CLIFTON PARK — With a laugh and a wave of his hands, Shenendehowa boys’ soccer head coach Jon Bain redirected all questions about his goalies’ attire to the guy who decided on it.
“The outfit?” Bain said last week. “You’ve got to ask Greg about it. He picked it out.”
That’s Greg Monroe, Shenendehowa’s senior keeper who got the opportunity to pick out the uniforms for the Plainsmen’s goalies this season and made the most of it.
Monroe’s choice? A jersey, shorts and socks that all match in color — a highlighter yellow with a tinge of green.
“It’s a bit bright,” junior goalie Kevin Schuster said of the getup which looks like it might glow in the dark once the Plainsmen start playing night games this season.
That’s the look Monroe said he wanted. Bain told him after last season he could choose the uniform for Shenendehowa’s goalies — senior Zach Armenia, Monroe and Schuster — for the 2017 campaign. While the attire Monroe picked looks, well, unique, there is a method to what he selected.
“I picked out the brightest one because my dad always told me that if [what the goalie is wearing] is bright, then that’s kind of what [opposing players] see out of the corner of their eye and they’ll shoot right at you,” Monroe said. “It’s all tactics.”
Monroe laughed as he said that last part, but he’s not totally joking — and his teammates have said it’s easier to play the ball back to the goalie because he is so visible.
“It’s hard to mess that up,” Shenendehowa senior defender Ethan Behan said.
Before the season started, Monroe showed his fellow goalies the uniforms for the three of them for this year. After their eyes adjusted, they were good with the decision.
“I’m always on board,” Schuster said.
“He’d showed me some pictures,” Armenia said. “I thought it was cool. Maybe it might scare some people away from us.”
Or, make others think of another sport and just confuse them. That’s the camp of people to which Behan originally belonged.
“When I first saw them,” Behan said, “I thought they looked like a giant tennis ball.”
While eyes need a second to adjust to their uniforms, Shenendehowa’s goalies have helped spur another strong start for the Plainsmen. Shenendehowa hasn’t lost in its first seven games and registered a big win Saturday against state-ranked CBA.
With results like that, Bain can live with however his goalies are looking. Already, the coach won one battle in that regard, anyway.
“I just didn’t want it to be pink,” Bain said.
Reach Gazette Sportswriter Michael Kelly at mkelly@dailygazette.net or @ByMichaelKelly on Twitter.
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